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Naomi Libicki

@naomilibicki / naomilibicki.tumblr.com

science fiction, fantasy, mythology, and encounters with the alien
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Do you want to read something I wrote? Going to make this a pinned post and try to keep it up to date. (The current version is from November 29th 2024)

First of all, I've written some books that you can buy at a variety of online shops. (Or they may even be available in your public library system.) Buying them on Smashwords puts the most money directly in my pocket, if that's a thing you're interested in doing, but it's a pretty negligible difference either way, so don't worry too much about it.

The King is Dead

The king is dead, and any plans that Nirithu, the insignificant youngest son of a warrior clan, had for his future are over. Instead, he has to look after his cousin Risokh, just freed after years spent as the king’s prisoner. To protect Risokh, Nirithu must find the truth of what happened years ago when the king first imprisoned Risokh, and how the king really died. (standalone, about 120k words)

The Firstborn of Death: Stories and Poems

From a Neolithic world of drowning islands to an Israeli desert town in the 1960s, from the realm of the gods beneath the Earth to a vineyard on Mars, these twenty-three stories and poems—some first seen in a variety of speculative magazines and anthologies, others appearing here for the first time—bring the numinous, the futuristic, and the strange face-to-face with the constant truths of the human heart. (short story and poetry collection, about 75k words)

I also write as Drew Sarkis, in collaboration with Alter S. Reiss:

In Sunlight and In Shadow

Bet is sworn to the service of the Last Court, a secret magical society that exists in the shadows of modern New York City—and her heart belongs to the Grand Sorceress. But her attempts to court Vivienne end in disaster, and disillusionment drives her from the Last Court. The Court, however, isn't done with Bet. (standalone novella, about 20k words)

Schemes of the Wayfarer

Seventeen years ago, Keth Caider’s parents were killed in a mysterious attack. To escape the ensuing court scandal, Keth enlisted in the army, while her school rival Theraine Carfan disappeared into the Wilds. Now, Keth is the commander of the Capital Guard, and Theraine has just returned to the Imperial Court, bringing with her magical gifts from the Wilds—and the chaos of the Wilds as well. (standalone, about 80k words)

Some of my shorter fiction and poetry has been published in various online venues, where you can read it for free.

Short Fiction

Poems

I also, very occasionally, post random things on AO3.

#my writing#naomi libicki#drew sarkis
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A lovely garden visitor, the varied thrush takes an iconic bird silhouette and says 'what if there was more ORANGE?' and that's the kind if twist on a classic I'm here for, nature! This one is pecking around under some bracken, a common sight in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. In my shop now!

#art
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If by one sight alone, I could divine The secrets of the sisterhood we share It is: your face by torchlight, soft like mine Smoke-smudged, pine garland woven in your hair Your dancing body pressed up close and hot Joy in the gifts the goddesses can bring While the soil breathes out the stench of rot Where next year's life from last year's seeds will spring How else can I describe the sacred hours The mysteries of our own holy days But: slaughter is the thing that brings forth flowers And every flower, at the last, decays I sing praise to the queens of death and growth In my ear you whisper, "Why not both?"

I wrote a sonnet for the second day of two-bees escapril; the prompt was "thesmophoria".

#my writing#timezone reblog
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at the start, the infinite was all formless, timeless, dark upon the deep making room for others, it turned small night. day. the first radiance to fall to vessels crafted specially to keep the holy light, the infinite, the all creatures that could swim and fly and crawl run and burrow, undulate and leap so many others! the divine writ small the vessels broke. the creatures still recall like dreams glimpsed on the borderlands of sleep fragments of the infinite, the all it yearns towards those who listen for its call who clamor not to praise, nor yet to weep but make room for a voice both still and small there is no flight without, at first, a fall only those who sow can hope to reap at the start, the infinite was all making room for others, it turned small

Getting back to two-bees escapril! Today's prompt is "apotheosis" and this week's extra challenge is to write a villanelle. This is of course a bit of a variant villanelle because the repeating lines don't exactly repeat. Anyway, taking a break from Greek mythology and religion to bring you a bit of Jewish mythology and religion.

#my writing#timezone reblog
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There is a path. It leads you down. Take a flashlight. It gets dark. Why did you choose to leave your home? What are you hoping, here, to find? Who are you, the one who's coming To the bowels of the earth? Overhead, the coal-black earth Shuts out the light. Keep going down. Forge ahead without succumbing To the primal fear of dark. Hold fast, persist, and you will find You no longer miss your home. And, instead, you'll start to home In on what's beneath the earth— Metamorphic rock, you'll find Whiteschist, talc, as soft as down. You'll change, too, down in the dark. Do you know what you're becoming? Just one answer is forthcoming: You can never go back home. You belong here in the dark. Flesh and bone give way to earth And stone. A long way down And more to come. What will you find? Yourself, however that's defined. Doing, being, and becoming. When all else fades, when you get down To it, then, where is your home? Born of earth, returned to earth— The grave, the womb, and both are dark. But you no longer fear the dark. You're not afraid of what you'll find. The secret places of the earth— Familiar and welcoming— Envelop you and call you home. Down and down and down and down. Beneath the earth, into the dark And further down, where you will find That you were coming—always—home.

Another one for two-bees escapril! Day 16's prompt is "katabasis" and week 2's extra credit challenge is "write a sestina."

#timezone reblog#might go crazy and reblog all my april poems so far#my writing
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Another double-page spread from my new #book (När dinosaurierna tog över, Idus förlag) depicting a scene from Argentina during the Early Jurassic. A pair of theropods (Condorraptor currumili) quench their thirst while observing a sauropod (Amygdalodon patagonicus) crossing the river. Meanwhile, the pterosaurs (Allkauren koi) are having a blast.

#art#books#paleo art
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There is a path. It leads you down. Take a flashlight. It gets dark. Why did you choose to leave your home? What are you hoping, here, to find? Who are you, the one who's coming To the bowels of the earth? Overhead, the coal-black earth Shuts out the light. Keep going down. Forge ahead without succumbing To the primal fear of dark. Hold fast, persist, and you will find You no longer miss your home. And, instead, you'll start to home In on what's beneath the earth— Metamorphic rock, you'll find Whiteschist, talc, as soft as down. You'll change, too, down in the dark. Do you know what you're becoming? Just one answer is forthcoming: You can never go back home. You belong here in the dark. Flesh and bone give way to earth And stone. A long way down And more to come. What will you find? Yourself, however that's defined. Doing, being, and becoming. When all else fades, when you get down To it, then, where is your home? Born of earth, returned to earth— The grave, the womb, and both are dark. But you no longer fear the dark. You're not afraid of what you'll find. The secret places of the earth— Familiar and welcoming— Envelop you and call you home. Down and down and down and down. Beneath the earth, into the dark And further down, where you will find That you were coming—always—home.

Another one for two-bees escapril! Day 16's prompt is "katabasis" and week 2's extra credit challenge is "write a sestina."

#my writing#twobeesescapril
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new midi skirts in april 🌷

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also, there will be two new button up shirts!!! in these patterns

#fashion
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Notes from a Regicide a book by Isaac Fellman
Notes from a Regicide is a heartbreaking story of trans self-discovery with a rich relatability and a science-fictional twist from award-win
Bookshop

I just realized my friend's book has a preorder page now! It comes out next April. Set in a futuristic kingdom, it's about a young trans man named Griffin attempting to piece together the lives of his now-deceased adoptive parents and his place in their world. His adoptive parents were painters with a mysterious, traumatic past of political intrigue and unwitting rebellion, and now his adoptive father's prison diary is the only key Griffin has to understanding their past and his own future.

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Out today!!! Out today!!!

#books
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